No signs of life after rockfall at mine

18 April 2016 - 09:06 By MATTHEW SAVIDES

Three foreign nationals will appear in a KwaZulu-Natal magistrate's court today on multiple charges linked to illegal mining. They were among a group of at least eight people involved in illegal mining at a dilapidated gold mine near Pongola, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, when there was a rockfall on Friday.Five men were trapped underground in the collapse and are believed to have been killed.All the men are reportedly Lesotho nationals who entered the country illegally.Warrant Officer Jack Haskins, of the police search and rescue team, said rescuers went about 100m below ground but were unable to reach any of the trapped men.According to municipal officials, one of the trapped illegal miners was communicating with people on the surface on Friday night and early Saturday morning.But by yesterday afternoon there were no signs of life.The search has been called off."It's far too dangerous to work in the shaft. It's very unstable," said Haskins.Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane confirmed that the three miners had been arrested and would appear in the Pongola Magistrate's Court today on charges of entering the country illegally, trespassing and illegal mining...

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